Samsung Wave 3 Preview

Introduction:

The latest grandmaster of Samsung’s bada OS dropped by the office to say hi in the form of a prototype preview unit, and the first impression it brought was that of a pretty solid device. Unlike the original Wave, though, which was the first smartphone with Super AMOLED display and the excellent Hummingbird chipset, the third edition won’t steal the spotlight from Samsung’s best Android handsets.

It sports bada 2.0, a single core processor pumped up to 1.4GHz, and a 4” Super AMOLED display. Bada OS is not optimized for dual-core chipsets and doesn't support Adobe Flash, so one core clocked at 1.4GHz seems enough, but does it run the new visual candy well? Read on to find out our thoughts on the Samsung Wave 3 prototype…

Design:

The Wave 3 feels rather wide in the hand, leaving the impression you are nestling something larger than a 4-incher in your palm. That feeling is aided by the solid metal chassis, half of which simply slides up when you push a thin button on the back, revealing the battery compartment with the SIM card and microSD slots – no need to look for nail slots to pry open a flimsy back cover.



You can compare the Samsung Wave 3 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The regular 4” Super AMOLED display seems like taken directly from the last year's Galaxy S editions. It has the same 480x800 resolution, wide viewing angles, gaudy colors and almost infinite contrast. Unfortunately, it still sports overly cold colors and the PenTile matrix, which places it a level below the Super AMOLED Plus display on the Galaxy S II, for example.

In short, we are very satisfied with the design – the phone is slim at 0.39“ (9.9mm), with 4.30oz (122g) of heft, despite the largely metal chassis, and has all the curves at the right places that make it comfortable to hold. Moreover, from the looks and materials one can immediately tell they are holding a high-end bada phone, so the Samsung Wave 3 has managed to both be distinctive, and keep the flagship design heritage alive. The only gripe is that it is a tad on the wide side, which would make it unwieldy for people with smaller hands – a taller, but narrower design approach would have been better, like the way a 4.2” screen was fit in the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc's narrower body.

Interface and functionality:

Bada OS 2.0 is standing loud and proud in front of you when you unlock the screen of the Samsung Wave 3, and there is a difference in visual candy compared to the previous iteration.  The new TouchWiz interface is very similar to the one found on the Android flagship Galaxy S II, down to the grids that show you where you can place each widget on the homescreen, and how much cells it will take.

The lock screen now shows the weather widget and message notifications, and on the far left homescreen you can place all your widgets at once in a scrollable list, with the only static widget being the one for your favorite contacts.

Granted, the software on our preview unit is probably not final, but bada 2.0 still looks way more polished in terms of iconography and fonts than its predecessor, as it should be. Transitional animations and transparency are ubiquitous now, bringing more pleasant looks to Samsung's own mobile OS. Almost every menu has been updated for better visuals, from the sliding switches that turn on/off different functions, to the rounded buttons within the apps, and a new, contrasting color scheme has taken over.

Even in this prototype form, the eye candy draws well without hiccups, as should be the norm on a 1.4GHz processor. We have to also note that the touchscreen was very responsive with no lag following your finger movement, and kinetic scrolling felt like it has been given a nitro booster.

Another big addition to the interface in bada 2.0 is voice recognition which pops up almost everywhere, inviting you to say a command or phrase. We found it to be pretty accurate, provided that you speak slowly and distinctly.

There is multitasking also – hold down the home key, and you get a list of the running apps (including 3rd party), between which you can swich, or kill them altogether. In short, TouchWiz over bada 2.0 now gets to look a lot like the one on. Android, sans the live wallpapers.

Messaging, Internet and connectivity:

The messaging app now has a helpful contacts bar under the recipient field, from where you can quickly choose a number from the call log, for instance, and there is a quick way to attach an image, video or sound file to your outgoing message.

The email app supports automatic configuration for the most popular online services, and you can adjust a lot of font options, like size, shape and even color. Typing messages is very comfortable on the large 4” display, in both landscape and portrait modes. The virtual keyboard employs more rounded buttons with extra space between them now, which eases the process of typing correctly.

Unfortunately, bada 2.0 still doesn't support desktop Adobe Flash, despite the fact that with a 1.4GHz processor, the Wave 3 would have been a prime candidate for that. The new Dolphin 3.0 browser of Samsung, however, has an improved UI and now a download manager, so it's a change for the better. Text reflow, panning and zooming also work fine, so the only thing you are likely to miss is full Flash support – embedded YouTube videos are not an issue, though.


The Samsung Wave 3 supports a full set of connectivity options – 14.4Mbps HSDPA, 2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS, DLNA and FM radio. As with most high-end Samsung handsets of late, we have Wi-Fi Direct as well, so their owners can exchange big files quickly without the need of an access point. Of note is that the GPS chip locked position pretty quick on cold start – for about 10 seconds, and it is a new version, which supports the Russian satellite system Glonass as well, so you are double-covered with the Wave 3.

Camera and Multimedia:

The 5MP shooter inherits the nice tradition from the first Samsung Wave to make sharp, detailed photos, with very good color representation, even in this prototype version of the Samsung Wave 3 we handled. The video capture is 720p HD with 30fps, and it exhibits similar qualities, but we will save judgment for the final unit.



The Gallery app UI has been redesigned completely, with cool page-turning effect when you switch on the slideshow function, and so on. The music player has also received an eye-candy boost, and it sports embedded song recognition functionality. The video player has also received nice visual upgrade with a transparent interface, and now sports the ability to display subtitles. It also played most formats we threw at it, including DivX/Xvid out of the box, up to 720p.





Expectations:

The Samsung Wave 3 is the flagship bada OS handset. It is thin, light, and made of quality materials design. When you look at it, you can immediately attribute it as a high-end phone, and, to top it off, it even has some unique chassis features like a sliding shell that reveals the battery compartment.

The new TouchWiz on bada 2.0 is a big improvement over the previous version in terms of both eye candy and added functionality, but the OS still doesn't support Adobe Flash. When we add, however, the good camera, generous 4” Super AMOLED display, and the vast support of video codecs in the default player, the Wave 3 is shaping up to be the best bada handset so far, and one that is showing bada OS has matured.

However, the Wave 3 can't be considered a threat for Samsung's best Android devices. The bada flagship lacks a dual-core processor or a more resolute display and camera. We think this should be offset by an attractive pricing, to make it an interesting alternative offer.

Samsung Wave 3 Video Preview: